Pauline Small (November 30, 1924 – March 9, 2005) was the first woman to be elected to office in the Crow Tribe of Indians. In 1966 she was elected to Vice-Secretary of the Crow Tribal Council, holding office ''de facto'' to 1972, and served in various positions within the Crow Tribal Offices, many to do with supporting education.

Early life and education

Pauline White Man Runs Him was born on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. The youngest of three children, she was raised in the Valley of the Chiefs district on the reservation. Small was a granddaughter of White Man Runs Him.

Marriage and family

She married Ivan James Small, Sr., a member of the

Northern Cheyenne The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe. Located in southeastern Montana, the reservation is approximately ...

Tribe of Indians. They made their home in Busby, Montana. Eventually they moved to the family allotment of Packs The Hat in the Rotten Grass area.

Tribal politics

Small was active in Crow tribal politics. In 1966 she was elected to the position of Vice-Secretary of the Tribal Council, the first woman to hold any office. She served in that position until 1972, and has been active on various committees of the Tribal council. Deeply interested in education, she was a member of the Lodge Grass Board of Trustees, serving as Chair for eight years; Crow Tribal Education Committee; and the 107th Committee of the Crow Tribal Council. A member of the

Crow Nation The Crow, whose autonym is Apsáalooke (), also spelled Absaroka, are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, the Crow Tribe of Montana, with an Indian reservation loca ...

, she was very involved with tribal government. Small was an active supporter of Indian rodeo for 30 years.

References

External links

* —Article about Pauline Small's support for Indian rodeo
The Minneapolist Institute of Arts
��Quote from Pauline Small {{DEFAULTSORT:Small, Pauline 1924 births 2005 deaths Crow tribe Female Native American leaders Haskell Indian Nations University alumni 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians People from Lodge Grass, Montana 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans Native American women in politics